Dopey
by 3DPhantom
Summary: One of KID's doves, Dopey, tends to cause more trouble than even a phantom thief can handle. He could get rid of it; sell it or just "lose" it at a park... But his doves are family to him, and no matter how embarrassing this family member is, or how baffling to KID's pursuers, Kaito would never abandon him. Hilarity, headaches, and heart-attacks ensue. -Features the Detective Boys-
1. Chapter One: Dopey Dove

**A/N: Oh look, _another story._ o.O; This one's mildly inspired by BakaThief's short-comic on DeviantArt, titled _"DOPEY"._ I highly recommend you look it up because it's great, but it is not at all necessary for the reading of this story. My story is very different from theirs; their story just sparked a bit of the line of thought that lead to this story is all.**

 **Rating: K+**

 **Warnings: Mild mention of mental issues and mild violence, but otherwise no warnings.**

 **Slash: No specific or purposeful slash is intended in this story, though there may be subtle hints at any number of pairs if you squint and tilt your head to the side. You could pretty much just pick your favorites and roll with it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Magic Kaito. I guess the actual character of "Dopey" which I've created belongs to me, but I wouldn't mind if people used the character, so long as they mention that he's originally mine. *Shrugs* Cover art is mine.**

 **Chapter One: Dopey Dove**

Conan had chased KID up to the roof, as usual, and KID had greeted him with his usual cocky grin and taunting, downward-tip of his hat.

They exchanged witty banter for a few moments, during which Conan showed off his intelligence by deducing everything KID had done that night while the magician sounded impressed and interested in an ever-so-slightly teasing and satirical manner.

All too soon, they knew it was time to end their battle of words and begin the usual dance. Conan bent down to turn the knob on his power-kick shoes, KID reaching behind the lapels of his suit jacket towards his card gun and tensing to dodge the inevitable attack Conan would provide.

Conan's other hand went to the button on his ball-dispensing belt, and he paused for a moment, smirking at KID. His unspoken question didn't go unnoticed. _"Are you ready?"_

The Moonlight Magician's returning grin was as devious and mischievous as ever. _"But of course~!"_

Conan's finger twitched near the release button…. But he never got the chance to follow through.

Milliseconds before he could release a ball, there was a blur of white which hurtled itself towards Conan's head. He didn't see it until it was too late, the stark-ivory something colliding with a loud _THWACK_ against the right side of his skull. Immediately after there was a sharp, but short, cry from Conan, more of surprise than of pain, as he tumbled sideways onto the roof, knocked over, and a simultaneous _SQUAWK._

Conan righted himself quickly, rubbing at the side of his now slightly aching head, his glasses resting sideways, askew, across the bridge of his nose as he sat up on the roof. "What in the…." He stopped as he spotted what had collided with him.

There on the roof next to him was a white dove. Its feathers were a little ruffled, but otherwise it appeared to be well-cared-for and pristinely clean. One of KID's, then. It flapped frantically, having fallen to the roof's grey top after colliding with the boy, righting itself before sitting there on the roof for a moment and panting heavily to catch its breath. Conan blinked at it, it looked up at him, and flapped a bit, letting out what Conan could only describe as an annoyed sound at him, as if reprimanding him. Conan stared for another few moments, surprised.

"Hey now," he said to the still aggravated-looking dove. " _I'm_ not the one who ran into _you,_ " he pointed out. The dove huffed, seemingly even more annoyed with him now, but it didn't attempt to fly away from where it was still panting slightly on the roof and Conan didn't stand. Instead he turned to look at KID. _"You attacked me with a dove?!"_ This was a new and startling tactic, and one that Conan had not at all expected from the gentlemanly (albeit annoying) thief.

Conan knew though as soon as he saw KID that such was not the case. Not only did Conan find it difficult to believe that KID would use his doves in such a potentially harmful way (harmful for the doves, namely, who Conan knew KID cared for deeply), but the look on KID's face also said it all.

He had his left hand's fingertips pressed against the side of his face in what Conan supposed was supposed to be akin to a much more elegant version of a face-palm, his usual smirk pulled down into a slight frown of…. Vexation, perhaps? That seemed too strong a word though…. KID was looking at his dove somewhat fondly, but also clearly just a tiny bit irked, seeming slightly put-upon.

Any which way, Conan figured by KID's response that the impromptu dove-to-the-side-of-Conan's-head had, in fact, _not_ been planned.

With a sigh, KID began to walk forward. " _Dopey,_ I _told_ you to go home _thirty minutes ago,_ " he said, somewhat exasperated. He stepped up to the dove, ignoring the little critic next to him who watched on with confused and questioning eyes. KID carefully bent down and cupped the dove in his hands, his deft fingers ever-so-gently roaming the avian creature's body, spreading its wings and inspecting it for injuries. Finding none, he sighed again, this time a bit more in relief rather than exasperation.

He lifted a white-gloved finger and pointed it at the dove, who watched him intently. He shook it admonishingly. "That's it. No more heists for you!" The dove ruffled its feathers up as if upset. "Don't give me that." The bird chirped sadly. "Well…. You…." KID groaned ever-so-quietly under his breath, Conan barely picking up on the sound. "We'll talk about it later."

With that KID tucked the dove safely into some inner pocket up his left sleeve, letting it settle until it was comfortable and invisible to outside eyes, regardless of keenness. Even Conan couldn't see any irregular shape in the fitted way KID's clothes settled against his skin.

Finally, KID turned his attention to Conan for the first time since the incident. He cocked his head slightly to the side as if in question. "I don't need to inspect you for injuries too, do I?" His tone was well disguised, but Conan could sense the faintest hint of taunting sarcasm.

Conan glared at him and KID smirked, all guise of seriousness gone.

"Well, regardless, I give you my apologies, Tantei-kun. Dopey is a good bird, honest he is, but he's just a little…." Kid waved a hand from side to side to indicate instability. "….Off."

"Why do you think that is?" Conan asked, voice light with genuine curiosity. Leave it to a detective to ask questions.

KID laughed at his curiosity and decided to humor him. "Heaven only knows. I truly couldn't tell you. He, like many of my doves, was conceived by one of the others. His mother has certainly always treated him well, being a loving bird herself, and I never saw any damage to his egg before hatching. The only conclusion I can come to is that either he suffered some trauma or injury somehow without my knowledge that the others hadn't been able to save him from -I can't very well watch them twenty-four seven, though I also can't imagine him coming to harm in any of the locations I keep them- Or he's just got a quirky personality." KID shook his head. "I don't know _what_ goes through that little bird's mind most of the time. He runs into things, dive-bombs the ground…. Sometimes I feel like he's trying to show off his impressive flying skills, which he _doesn't have_. I don't know if he meant to hit you either, or if he was trying to fly near you without actually touching and messed up, or if he was just flying without even paying attention. I genuinely worry about him: I fear one of these days he'll get himself killed."

Conan scoffed and laughed at the same time. "It sounds to me like he just takes after _you._ "

KID glared at him and opened his mouth as if to respond, but stopped, shutting it again with an almost audible _clack._ That…. Was actually a possibility. Only the doves themselves would know this (and also possibly Kaito's mother and Jii, he wouldn't put it past them), but Kaito often took his doves out with him into the mountains when he practiced flying. As an ever-learning Phantom Thief, he did, after all, have to put in genuine effort to learning more maneuvers, techniques, and impressive tricks with his glider. He always took his doves with him when he ventured to one of his favorite secluded areas to practice new magic tricks and flying, in part because they aided him in learning the flying tricks, allowing him to watch their movements to gauge the air currents more accurately and sometimes having them preform the tricks themselves while he observed, for his more skillful at flying birds. The other reason he took them was because if anything ever went wrong and he found himself in trouble, or if he crashed in such a manner as to sustain serious injury, they knew how to go for help. Everyone needs a spotter or two to watch their backs, and though Kaito put in great effort to making sure crashing was kept to a minimum and that he was relatively safe, it would still be unwise to travel into secluded areas with the purpose of practicing dangerous tricks without someone about who could get assistance should something go wrong.

Having said that, the doves had, for a long enough time, been observing Kaito as he learnt new tricks on his hang-glider and, inevitably, this sometimes meant watching him smack into trees when the air pressure dropped and he couldn't turn sharply enough, or into the ground when the wind didn't catch in his glider the way he'd figured it would. Maybe he'd crashed a few times more than usual during the first few times he'd taken Dopey out with him, back when Dopey himself was still new to and therefore learning the art of flying. It could certain explain a few things….

KID hummed when he realized that Conan was still staring at him, expecting some sort of rebuttal from the Phantom Thief. KID only smirked at him. "Unfortunately, you may be right about that, in one way or another." KID stood and offered a white-gloved hand down to the detective. He took it, and KID pulled Conan up onto his feet.

Conan righted his glasses and looked up at KID analytically, noting the tenseness in KID's shoulders which indicated that he was ready to dodge and run if Conan made any moves to attack. But Conan simply placed his hands in his pockets and relaxed. "Normally you don't have a dove with you when we meet up, because you're careful enough not to put them in my line of fire. I'll let you go without any trouble tonight, only because I don't want to risk accidentally hitting your bird, or hitting you only because you have a handicap you need to protect." KID relaxed ever-so-slightly and smiled at him in appreciation. "You owe me though, both for letting you off easy and for the bruise I'm going to have from this."

KID didn't verbally respond, acknowledging his rival's comments with a polite tip of his hat in thanks before leaving ever-gracefully off the roof, his hang glider snapping out as he glided off under the moonlight. Watching him go, Conan could make out a white shape which flapped along erratically and energetically around him, Dopey nearly running into his master several times in the short distance Conan was able to see him before the two white blurs against the night sky were inseparable from each other across the distance.

 **A/N: Well, that's it for the first chapter; I hope you liked it! If you did, leave me a review, 'kay? X)**


	2. Chapter Two: Nope

**Chapter Two: Nope**

Kuroba Kaito was scowling, one eyebrow twitching as his dove and he had a face-off.

"I told you, no more night-time flying escapades for you!"

Dopey cooed.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere. No."

The bird looked annoyed, ruffling its feathers and sticking out its chest.

"It's for your own safety!"

The dove warbled out something like a sentence that, to the average human, was nothing but a jumble of random chirpy and grumbly noises.

"What do you mean I'm being hypocritical?!" Well, yes, technically he was, since his night job was dangerous for himself as well, but he couldn't just _not_ attend heists, and he could look after himself! Dopey couldn't, and it was Kaito's job to make sure he was safe.

Never mind that the bird _was_ the most energetic of his doves even at night, when he usually had some difficulty keeping them awake for the heist, set-up, and subsequent return home…. It would be a loss for Kaito as well. The excitable bird often proved useful at night, but that wasn't worth risking the bird's safety over.

The dove warbled again, something that to Kaito sounded like a _"you know what I mean,"_ but to his class mates it just looked like the bird wanted some of Kaito's rice.

Because Kaito had, for some reason, deemed it necessary to have this conversation with Dopey during lunch hour, right there at his desk at school. Some people were eyeing him with slight concern, thinking him crazy, but for the most part, honestly? They'd definitely seen their classmate, the resident Magician Extraordinaire, do far crazier than talk to his dove as if it were a person.

Most students ignored whatever was going on, Aoko openly watching with slight interest as Kaito reprimanded Dopey for one thing or another. This was nothing new to her: She was familiar with the bird, and Kaito often had to get after it for causing even more trouble than the magician was looking for.

It was Hakuba who looked most unnerved. He easily figured that what Kuroba had meant by "night-time flying escapades" was heists, but there was no evidence of this, and it could just as easily be claimed that the magician only meant he wouldn't let the bird go out flying at night anymore. No, there was nothing he could actually use from the conversation as evidence, Kuroba was too careful for that…. But he had his concerns.

"Kuroba-kun," Hakuba began somewhat delicately, interrupting what appeared to be a staring contest between the magician and his dove as Kaito glared rather fiercely at the avian animal, who, to be fair, looked as if it didn't care one bit about its master's frustrations, staring right back at him calmly and cutely. "You _do_ know that doves have rather small brains, and are incapable of understanding human speech, much less carrying on such a complicated conversation, don't you?" Because seriously, if Kuroba thought his birds could _actually understand him_ to such a degree, Hakuba was going to have to re-think his previous notions on Kaito's insane antics just being a ruse to cover up his intelligence. No matter how well-trained Kuroba doves were, Hakuba refused to believe the literally bird-brained creatures could comprehend human speech. They weren't even parrots, for Heaven's sake!

Kaito looked over at him. "Yeah, of course~!" Hakuba nodded a little in relief…. And then Kaito winked and clicked his tongue. Hakuba got the feeling that it was meant to convey something along the lines of _"we both know that isn't true."_

"No, Kuroba, I mean it. They _can't understand human speech._ You _know_ that, right?"

"Sure thing!" Another wink and a knowing smirk that had Hakuba seriously questioning both of their sanities. Aoko giggled, watching the events unfold with amusement and a little sympathy for Hakuba.

It's true that, for a while, she'd been skeptical too. She'd wondered a few times if Kaito really was crazy, but then she'd come to the conclusion that he just talked to the birds that way so they didn't feel as if he were talking down on them. She figured it was more about the emotions they conveyed to each other and the words didn't really matter….

And then she'd seen Kaito do things like ask his doves to bring him the syrup from the pantry at breakfast, to grab his blue scarf ("the solid blue one, not the one with the stripes"), or he'd ask them what type of grape they wanted, red or white, and they'd seem slightly annoyed when he had to inform them that he was out of the kind they'd supposedly wanted that day. That had _really_ confused Aoko…. Part of her still felt that it was some major, long-going magic trick and that he had signals he secretly sent the birds to tell them to react in this-way or that-way, but at the end of the day, more often than not, she truly believed that the doves really understood what Kaito was saying.

Hakuba would never believe the doves to be that smart though, so for his own sanity he chalked it up to all being a trick Kaito was playing to make the world think more highly of his doves than they should.

He pointedly ignored Kaito and his dove when one of the students made an off-handed comment about Kaito being a lunatic and the dove deemed it necessary to attack the student's lunch in retribution, knocking it to the floor, despite Kaito's attempts to stop the angered animal. It ultimately resulted in the bird getting itself caught _under_ the bento as it fell and the bird skittered across the floor while trapped under the box, students looking on and laughing while Kaito face-palmed and then chased the bird, looking to outside eyes as if he were chasing after a runaway box.

No, they were definitely not that intelligent, and even if they were…. Dopey was clearly the dumbest.

 **A/N: Well, there's the second chapter: I hope you enjoyed it! Please review~! ^^**


	3. Chapter Three: Short Interlude

**Chapter Three: Short Interlude**

 **A/N: Like the chapter title says, this chapter is just a short little insert/filler chapter off from the main story. Dopey being Dopey, Kaito being Kaito, things like that. I hope you enjoy it! ^^**

Kaito and Aoko were on the way home after school, passing through Ekoda Park along the way. As was usual for them, they didn't pass through at a leisurely pace. Strolls through the park didn't happen with them: Aoko was chasing Kaito in a mad dash, brandishing a large stick she'd picked up as a weapon while Kaito occasionally leapt over tall bushes (forcing Aoko to either push through them or trek around) and swung into and around the trees (also resulting in much annoyance for Aoko as she attempted to swat him down with her branch, occasionally regressing to tossing rocks at him until he maneuvered through various branches and back onto the ground).

The pair was just passing at a mad sprint by the fountain and park benches when Aoko swung her branch at the magician and the messy-haired boy, instead of dodging like he normally would have, stumbled with a sudden movement and managed to catch the branch with his hands, slipping on the gravely path beneath him as they were both pulled to the ground, Kaito by the force of gravity and his own thrown-off balance, and Aoko by Kaito as she refused to let go of the stick now held on the other end within Kaito's grasp.

All of this, because as Aoko had gone to swing at him, a nearby bird-lover sitting on a park bench had thrown out a handful of bread crumbs, and Dopey had leapt from his hiding spot tucked away in Kaito's clothes. Kaito actually had two other doves with him as well, but neither of _them_ had reacted to the crumbs, trained well enough to keep in their spots no matter what.

Kaito groaned, sitting up with little rocks clinging to his clothes as Aoko also stood with a huff, dusting herself off. _"Dopey!"_ Kaito complained, looking to the side and seeing his dove pecking happily at the crumbs a few feet to the fallen teens' side. "No, don't eat that! You're supposed to be on a diet!" Kaito stood and quickly made his way over to the white dove which stood out next to the grey pigeons that had gathered near the crumbs. "First you make me trip in an effort to keep you from getting smacked by Ahoko-"

"It's not my fault you can't control Dopey, BaKaito!" Aoko protested, sticking out her tongue at the magician. He promptly ignored her in a similar, childish retaliation.

"-And now you seek to ruin all the hard work I put into keeping you perfectly healthy by eating _bread crumbs?_ " Kaito huffed in exasperation. "I hand-mix the seeds and vegetables I feed you ya know; bread is bad for you! You'll get fat!" Kaito leant down to pick up his dove, the other two doves on his person discreetly poking their heads out to get a look at what the younger bird had done wrong this time around.

Dopey continued to complain all the way home.

 **A/N: Please review~! Lady Gaga lives for the applause? Well, I live for the _reviews._ Haha. ;D**


	4. Chapter Four: Mopey

**Chapter Four: Mopey**

Kaito _knew_ it was a mistake. Honestly, he should have just let his bird be upset with him. He should have been more strict, he should have _insisted_ that Dopey couldn't come….

But Dopey _**lived**_ for heists! He _adored_ them, they made him feel truly useful, and Kaito could tell that they were very important to the little idiot. Whenever Dopey was banned from heists he would get depressed. He wouldn't eat properly, he'd laze around the house just flopped in a dark corner or under furniture, and at night he'd stare wistfully out of a window at the night sky, his black little eyes gleaming sadly under the light of the moon. When Kaito left to a heist without him, Dopey would stare longingly after him and the other doves as they left, and when Dopey was depressed he got so _quiet._ Usually Dopey was fairly vocal, cooing and chirping and flapping about all over the place with quick and unsteady, yet happy and excited wing-beats. When he was feeling downtrodden he stopped racing about and all Kaito could get out of him was a gloomy coo and a disheartened chirp every now and then. A lackluster Dopey was a sad sight so, begrudgingly, Kaito'd let the dove come along to his most recent heist. He just couldn't stand how dismal the bird had looked after having to watch a handful of his fellow doves go to the last three heists without him. Kaito's heist-doves team (or his Special-Ops Doves, as he called them) was reserved for his most energetic and intelligent birds…. Plus Dopey, who was by far the most excitable, but _not_ the smartest by any stretch of the term.

He wasn't stupid either though, Kaito often had to remind himself. Yes, he was clumsy, and he did ridiculous things, and he seemed to like getting into trouble, but in all honesty he was still an intelligent bird, and he was better at comprehending Kaito than most, though that comprehension hardly mattered if the bird ignored what its master was saying willfully. This led Kaito to the unfortunate realization that Dopey was probably stupid by choice more often than not, or he let his excitement cloud his judgement….

Kaito couldn't help but let out a laugh as he suddenly realized that it was _exactly_ like his detectives! They also often put safety into the back of their minds and charged forward blindly when there was a criminal to be caught.

Kaito couldn't really afford to have a dove like that with him on heists, but he'd thought that perhaps he could get away with bringing the bird for reconnaissance only, and he would use other birds for the actual heist tricks.

He should have known Dopey couldn't resist the urge to get involved in the magic, even when he _knew_ he wasn't supped to be that involved in the heist…. The dove really did love the thrill of being in the show.

And so, Kaito found himself wishing he had just left his poor little depressed bird at home rather than lifting its spirits by giving it another chance. Was it worth it for the dove, going to heists even if it meant a high probability of injury or death? Kaito himself was conflicted, thinking that perhaps, yes, it might be worth the risk for the little dove, but it wasn't worth it to Kaito himself. He wanted to protect his doves, but he didn't know how to do that if Dopey insisted on getting physically hurt on heists and being emotionally depressed without them.

Kaito staggered into his home at one in the morning, draped head-to-toe in a black cloak to hide him from any prying eyes which might be wandering in the night, his white KID garments hidden underneath. Dopey, shivering from remnants of excitement and in pain, was nuzzled into the safety of Kaito's cupped hands. Needless to say, the heist hadn't gone well.

Kaito had been using the cameras within the museum to observe the Task Force and keep track of everything, and had Dopey assigned to fly the outside perimeter so that he could monitor the officers and crowds outside. Five other doves were involved in the heist, but _they_ were integral to his magic that night, each of them assigned to grab one of each of the five fake jewels that had been put out that night. Inspector Nakamori had had the fakes made and was claiming that one of them was the real jewel, but in reality that was just a ruse; the real jewel, KID knew, was in the inspector's pocket. So KID had instructed his five chosen doves to, once the lights went out and under the cover of darkness, glide as silently as possible from their perches hidden over the columns by the ceiling down to the deep violet fake gems, each of them set into a silver ring band in imitation of the real one, and pluck them up so that when the lights flickered back on the illusion would be cast that KID had nabbed all of them at once. Afterwards Inspector Nakamori was supposed to proudly pronounce that they had _all_ been fake, and then he would have discovered that the jewel which was in his pocket had been replaced by a KID card.

That _was_ the plan, until Dopey, the loveable but insufferably trouble-prone little bird that he was, over-zealous and deciding that he wanted in on the action, had flown into the room just as the lights went out via the open window KID had left slightly ajar for the doves to escape from. The problematic bird then proceeded to crash into _every single one_ of the other birds in the dark (unless the bird had night-vision and aimed for the others, Kaito didn't think it was possible to screw up that badly), making a number of them drop their rings and causing all of them to need to land until the lights came on again so they could get their bearings back and find the window they were to exit from. Flying in the dark was a hazard, and now that they'd all been thrown off course, they knew they couldn't risk continuing to fly about blindly (a fact that Dopey also knew, but had chosen to ignore).

So when the lights came on, what the Task Force found, instead of five simply missing fake rings, was five doves settled either on the floor or on the pedestals which had held the fakes, the ones on the ground KID praying the officers wouldn't accidentally step on, several of the fake rings dropped and bouncing across the floor of the room….

And Dopey, who was blinded by the chandelier as the lights came on, then proceeding to _crash into_ said chandelier, as if he hadn't crashed into enough things already, injuring his wing in the process. KID had to expose the fact that he was dressed as one Officer Waseru in order to step up and catch the falling dove before it could hit the ground, he and the other doves all fleeing immediately, leaving behind a stunned Task Force. KID had wanted them surprised, yes, but _not_ _like that!_

And so, back to one o'clock in the morning, just after the heist, Kaito carried Dopey into his KID room after noting that the other five doves from the heist had decided to settle on his bed, all of them watching silently as their master and most troublesome brethren went by. Normally they would have picked at Dopey's feathers, not enough to cause them to fall out or to do serious damage, but enough to hurt him a little, as punishment for his recklessness that night. Now, knowing that he was injured already and with Kaito there, holding the hurt animal lovingly in his hands, they sat still and silent.

Kaito swiftly glided through the hidden KID room, stopping by some equipment on the far wall. There he pulled on a panel, revealing an x-ray machine. Usually it was used for authenticating jewels and paintings and other targets he'd had, and once or twice Kaito had used it on himself to determine if he'd broken any bones. The same purpose was utilized again as Kaito set Dopey on the countertop, placing a handkerchief down under the bird to protect it from the cool surface beneath it. He positioned the x-ray to Dopey's left side, reaching to extend the injured wing. Dopey protested in pain, squawking and trying to pull its injured left wing from Kaito's gently pulling fingers.

"I know it hurts," Kaito said softly, soothingly, "but I need you to bear with me. Just hold still." He stroked the bird's head to distract it even as his other hand deftly covered the bird's extended left wing with a lead-woven blanket (to protect it from the radiation, as was standard when preforming an x-ray) and then turned on the machine.

Twenty seconds later, Kaito let Dopey pull his wing back against his own fluffy body and put the x-ray equipment back into its proper location. He stared at the monitor next to him for a minute, still stroking Dopey's head with his right thumb reassuringly as he observed the results from the x-ray. With a small sigh, he turned off the screen.

"Well, you didn't _break_ anything. I'd say your pride, maybe, but I don't think you have any."

Dopey chirped in annoyance, but the sound was quieter than usual and half-hearted. If Kaito had to guess, he'd say Dopey was feeling guilty. This theory was further supported as Dopey dipped his head and began to nuzzle the underside of Kaito's hand, shivering more violently in remorse.

Kaito scoffed, lifting the bird and proceeding to tie the white handkerchief from before around the animal's body like a sling, holding its wing more firmly against it and supporting it. "Don't give me that," he admonished lightly. "Yes, you totally screwed up…. Again…. But I'm not _mad_ at you. Annoyed, maybe, that my trick was ruined, and a bit embarrassed that the Task Force and that Hakuba jerk witnessed it all, but I'm mostly just glad that you're okay, of course. Your wing is a little sprained, but it'll heal up in a few days. It _could_ have been worse. What if I hadn't been standing near enough by and you'd hit the floor before I could catch you?" He held the bird more closely against his chest, grasp tight, but not harmful. "What's really got me worried though is that I just don't know what to _do_ with you anymore." Kaito pulled off his cloak, revealing his full KID attire before sitting on one of the rolling chairs there next to the workbench. He stroked Dopey's head.

"I can't stand to see you be so mopey all the time, like you were when I told you that you couldn't come to heists anymore, but I can't stand to see you hurt either. I'm supposed to be taking care of you…."

Kaito sat for a moment, thinking, truly troubled by this situation. Troubled as he was, he found himself setting Dopey down on his chair as he went to change into average clothing. Properly dressed, he carried Dopey back up to his bedroom and plopped onto his bed, the five other doves rising momentarily before settling around and on him, some nuzzling into his bird-nest hair and on his arms, one rubbing against his cheek, while Dopey rested on his chest.

Kaito looked sidelong out the corner of his eye, staring at the life-sized painting of his father. "What would y _ou_ have done, Oyaji?" He wondered quietly. His doves, sensing his sadness, cooed and nuzzled against him more fiercely, one of them nibbling at his ever-messy hair.

Kaito averted his gaze to stare up once more at the bird perched on his chest, rising and falling as its master breathed softly. A grin suddenly split his face, mostly manic and confident and impish, but with just the faintest hint of sadness and acceptance behind it. "Alright, I think I know what to do…."

 **A/N:** **I hope you enjoyed the update! Sorry it was a few days late, meant to post on Monday…. I had it ready on time and just forgot to publish. ^^;**

… **. Review? For me? Yes?**

 **(=0ω0=)** **ノ**


	5. Chapter Five: Investigating

**Chapter Five: Investigating**

 **A/N:** ***Watches Crap Telly (aka cruddy-baking/home-design-British-TV-shows) while writing this*** **(●ω●)**

Hakuba was investigating. Stalking, if you listened to one Kuroba Kaito, but Hakuba wasn't about to take a scolding from a klepto-magician who deployed doves, of all things, with _listening devices_ and _video cameras_ on them to spy through numerous people's windows.

So what if Hakuba was hiding behind a bush outside of the Kuroba residence at nine in the morning on a Sunday? He wasn't a stalker, he was a _detective_.

Aoko came out to offer him a biscuit at around ten, to which he bashfully accepted along with the question of "how'd you know I was here?"

"You're hidden from Kaito's view, but I can see you plain as day from _my_ house."

"Kuroba told you, didn't he." It was a statement, a deduction, not a question.

Aoko snorted in annoyance, but sharply nodded. "Yeah, well, if you ever decide to stop stalking Kaito-"

" _I'm not-"_

"-then you're welcome to come over to my house for a proper meal. Lunch will be ready at one, if you want to join me, and I'm sure Kaito wouldn't let you be alone with me in my house for more than thirty seconds before barging in and insisting to join us, so you won't have to worry about losing sight of him."

The half-Brit considered. "That…. Sounds lovely. Thank you," he conceded, and Aoko nodded, promising to have lunch ready for three people by one o'clock (her dad was at work, which was to be expected, considering the Kaitou KID heist which had just taken place the night before).

Hakuba went back to observing, startled slightly to see Kaito sitting on the nearest windowsill and staring right back, having been watching as Aoko and Hakuba chatted. Hakuba would bet money that Kuroba knew how to lip read flawlessly, and therefore also would bet that he would, indeed, be having lunch with Aoko and Kaito in the Nakamori residence.

Kaito stared at him with a neutral face. Once Aoko was back inside, Hakuba still sitting behind a bush up front, he casually and smoothly raised from the windowsill and walked back into the depths of his home, disappearing from view.

Five minutes later, Kaito walked out of the house and strode over to the bush, a dove perched on his shoulder, its left wing held within a white cloth that Hakuba recognized as a make-shift sling.

Even as Kaito approached, Hakuba didn't rise from his spot behind the bush, peering up at the magician. "You really suck at stalking," Kaito observed helpfully.

Hakuba scoffed. "That's because I'm not a stalker."

"Could have fooled me. Even an artist who's bad at art is still an artist as long as they create. Stalkers are no different."

"And I suppose a thief who's bad at stealing is still a thief."

Kaito arched an eyebrow. "If you're referring to KID, whom I am _not_ , I'd like to point out that he's an _excellent_ thief."

"Who always returns what he steals." Hakuba looked at him sharply. "I wonder why that is, hmm? And while we're at it, I was at the heist last night. KID had a mishap with some of his doves. Why's your bird's wing in a sling, Kuroba-kun?"

Kaito shrugged. "No idea, you'll just have to ask KID yourself-"

"I did. He would not tell me."

"-and as for Dopey," Kaito reached up and pulled the bird off his shoulder, letting it perch on an outstretched finger and presenting him forward, "he's _Dopey_. He gets hurt all the time; Aoko could tell you that. His current injury has nothing to do with the KID heist last night. The nature channel was on yesterday afternoon and he tried to fly through the TV screen when they were showing an open field, injuring himself." That actually _had_ happened once a few weeks prior, but Dopey hadn't seriously hurt himself that time. Hakuba didn't need to know that though.

"You're a liar," Hakuba retorted, but ultimately shook his head. He was sure that even if he went to check what was playing on the nature channel yesterday afternoon to try to discredit Kaito's claims, he'd find that there _was_ an open field being shown at one point or another. "Did you just come here to taunt me, or was there something you wanted?"

"I wanted to taunt you, obviously," Kaito said with a devious grin. Hakuba flinched, knowing that something unsavory was bound to happen to him. He looked about, checking himself over and trying to determine what had happened. It didn't take him long to realize that his hair was now purple, pink, and blue like mixed cotton candy.

"Honestly, Kuroba, why is it _always_ my hair?"

Kaito shrugged. "You're blond. I don't know many blonds. Most of the people I know have dark-colored hair, which isn't _impossible_ to dye, but it's certainly harder than your light color, Goldilocks. It's especially difficult to dye multiple colors into dark hair. Why, don't you like it? It's cotton-candy colors. Yummy." Kaito did some strange movements with his eyebrows that filled Hakuba with the desire to smash his face into the pavement. He resisted the sudden violent urge and simply frowned.

"Yes, I'd noticed."

"Well anyway," Kaito continued, "what I came out here to say, on top of 'you suck at stalking, and overall suck in general,' is that I'm leaving, and I already know you're here, so why don't you just go home now, or to the pub, or wherever you British detectives go in their spare time."

"I'm too young to legally drink and you know it," Hakuba pointed out. "Where are you going?" Hakuba knew that Kaito was primarily just trying to get rid of him so that he wouldn't be joining the magician and Aoko for lunch. Hakuba had every intention of sticking around, following the magician, and having lunch with them anyway. He enjoyed Aoko's company well enough, and though he despised the thief himself, Hakuba liked to spend as much time with him as possible, both because it allowed him to investigate and because he knew his mere presence irritated the messy-haired boy like nothing else. He never saw Kuroba loose his carefully-formed masks as easily as he did when he was around Hakuba. Or perhaps he was using a mask of only partially-genuine annoyance to hide himself even more thoroughly? Hakuba didn't rightfully know.

Kaito sniffed. "That's none of your business, Creepy-Stalker-san."

Hakuba was about to retort when the front door to the Nakamori residence opened once more and Aoko strode over to them. She looked at the Brit's hair and a vein pulsed by her temple. "BaKaito, why do you keep doing things like that?" She asked, raising a fist and preparing to hit Kaito on the head. She paused when she spotted the dove still perched on Kaito's finger. "Dopey hurt himself again?" She shook her head in somewhat fond exasperation and reached out to stroke the creature's head. It cooed and rubbed against her finger, clearly pleased.

"You're so naughty, Dopey-chan!" Kaito suddenly said with a laugh (read: giggle). "He _really_ likes you Aoko." Another strange combination of eyebrow movements and this time Aoko really did hit him. Kaito, not wanting to jostle his bird by dodging, took the hit, feigning extreme pain and clutching at his head with his free hand, making overly exaggerated sighing sounds. _"So mean, Ahoko~!"_

"Anyway," she pointedly ignored her best friend, "what were you guys talking about?"

"Kuroba-kun was just about to go somewhere," Hakuba replied smoothly.

"Oh? Where ya going, Kaito?" She asked, interest piqued.

Kaito glared at Hakuba for a moment before deciding that he'd better answer the inspector's daughter, least she start pestering it out of him or hitting him. "Just to the library."

"Alright, then I'll go grab my purse and we can all go!" Aoko supplied happily.

"What? Nooo! The British twit can't come!" But his complaints went unheard (or largely ignored) as Aoko had already started back towards her house, disappearing behind the front door for only a minute before reemerging with a hat on and her purse slung over her shoulder.

"Let's go!" She insisted, grabbing Kaito by the back of his shirt and yanking him in the right direction. Kaito stumbled backwards, but was ultimately too well-balanced and graceful to fall, righting himself and grabbing Dopey, making him disappear in a quick hand motion, the bird safely tucked into a spot unobservable by prying eyes and secure enough that Kaito could move largely freely without worrying that the bird would get hurt or fall out of its hiding spot.

"You coming Hakuba-kun?" Aoko asked over her shoulder as she let go of Kaito, shoving him forward in front of her as he stumbled and righted himself, stuffing his hands in his pockets and huffing in irritation.

Hakuba simply nodded and followed along behind them.

Not thirty minutes later found them in the nearest public library, a rather quaint place that mostly stocked more scientific, historical, and non-fiction books. It was located next to a rather old community that didn't have many children, despite the Ekoda schools which were just a couple communities over. The library in the high school was stocked mostly with textbooks and young adult fiction, more entertaining and less heavy reads. The public library held little appeal to youth who weren't looking for study materials, so most of Ekoda's young went to the school library for books.

Kaito, of course, wasn't like other students though. The books he tended to read were less fiction, more tutorial. Instruction manuals, books on how to build things, history books which he skimmed for information on gems, biographies of magicians past…. Things that other people might find boring.

Even Hakuba himself, despite having read several sets of encyclopedias, enjoyed mysteries, a large number of his favorite titles being works of fiction, such as the Sherlock Holmes series, as an obvious example.

And Aoko…. She really just wasn't much of a reader, no matter the material. She was a young woman of action. She liked to learn by experience, to be out and about. That wasn't to say that she couldn't appreciate a good book, but unless she needed study materials or Kaito dragged her along, she didn't frequent the library. She only found herself there every couple weeks or so because Kaito was a frequent reader. Never mind the fact that he'd been banned from the library on multiple occasions due to radical disruptions and kept coming back anyway, the librarians allowing it simply because they couldn't seem to be able to stop him from slipping in, and if they didn't let him check out the books he wanted, he'd just borrow (steal) them and return them before the usual due date would have been.

' _Stealing and returning books,'_ Aoko thought as she entered the library, Kaito and Hakuba right behind her. She laughed out loud. _'_ _ **Almost**_ _enough to make me think Hakuba-kun may be right about Kaito being the Kaitou KID.'_ She didn't mean that, of course -No way in _Hell_ was her best firend KID- but it was still a funny thought.

As Aoko made her way to the computers to find something to do online -as she normally did while Kaito perused the bookshelves for an hour- Hakuba followed Kaito, the magician sending him an irked glance before deciding to commit to pretending that the blond didn't exist.

Hakuba had been far from surprised when he'd found out a couple months back that Kuroba Kaito loved a number of Science of Mechanics books, as well as a _ny_ book that had _anything_ to do with magic _whatsoever_ …. But he **was** surprised by the books which the magician had decided to gather during this particular visit to the library.

Hakuba watched silently as Kaito collected books under various titles. At first they made enough sense, though they were a bit odd, outside of the magician's usual reading habits…. _Psychology 101, The Basics of Therapy, How to Aid the Psychologically Damaged…._ Hakuba thought perhaps Kuroba would turn and pull a prank, claiming that he was getting such books to learn how to deal with a clearly insane person such as Hakuba. Hakuba was almost certain some jibe or prank was coming, but then Kaito started to gather more…. _Understanding Animals, Avian Instincts, The Minds of Birds…._ Hakuba figured those made enough sense too. Kaito kept a number of doves, after all. Maybe he just wanted to read up on them.

…. _Animal Psych, All You Need to Know About Therapy for Pets…._ When Kaito picked up a book titled _Medicine for the Avian Mind_ Hakuba just _had_ to ask.

" _What on_ _ **Earth**_ _are you researching?!"_ He asked in a harsh whisper. For the first time since they'd gotten there, Kaito turned to look at him, easily balancing the nine books in his hands.

"What?" Kaito asked, not having expected the question. "If you're bored go hit up the mystery-otaku sections, Stalker-san, and get out of my face." The magician was clearly annoyed, even more so than usual. It was this annoyance that alerted Hakuba to the fact that the Kuroba boy was perhaps _actually_ feeling a bit unsettled for some reason, as if he'd been seriously considering something troublesome.

Knowing that Kaito would _never_ answer him if Hakuba was sounding so judgmental and accusatory, he started again, this time in a more calm and civil tone of voice. "I…. Was just curious about your choice in books today."

"You're a detective, you're always curious about everything." Kaito started towards the table Aoko was sitting at, one of the library's loaner laptops in front of her. She looked up as they approached.

"Yes, but this more so than usual. What purpose could that particular collection of books serve?"

Kaito set the books down and sat, going for the first one in the stack. Hakuba took a seat next to Aoko, across from Kaito at the table. Hakuba knew that, firstly, if he didn't give Kaito some space the magician would lash out at him with one prank or another and not answer the question. He'd also carefully worded his question to be centered around _'what purpose could those books serve_ ' instead of a more obvious and intrusive _'what are you, Kuroba Kaito, up to now?'_ Hakuba suspected that Kaito could see the use of such simple psychological tools coming from a mile away and was well aware of when Hakuba was trying to manipulate him for information, and Hakuba's efforts _did_ tend to turn up fruitless as a result, but that never dissuaded the blond from using every trick available to him for gathering information.

Aoko looked at the books too. "Something up with your doves?" She asked calmly, and Hakuba was infinitely grateful that she'd questioned them too. As the daughter of a police inspector she was a curious person by nature, and thus she often asked the questions that Hakuba wanted to know the answers to, but that he would be unsuccessful in prying out of Kuroba by himself.

Kaito looked at her, ignoring Hakuba once again. "….I can't handle Dopey being like this anymore. If I take him places and let him get involved in anything exciting, like birthday parties or school pranks…."

'… _.Or heists,'_ Hakuba mentally filled in….

"…. Then he loses his head and almost _always_ ends up getting hurt. And if I _don't_ let him do those things he gets depressed. So I'm going to see if I can do anything about his depression _without_ having to let him in on my complicated and more dangerous tricks."

"…. You're going to play therapist for your bird," Hakuba clarified.

Kaito nodded with a smile. "Yup! I think I can manage it. Nobody knows my doves as well as I do, after all."

Hakuba scoffed; a laughing, chortling scoff. "You really _are_ insane." His voice was deride, and everyone knew that Hakuba was being judgmental. Hakuba himself knew it, but he couldn't help it: Did Kaito _really_ think that _doves_ could have use of _therapy_? He wasn't even joking about Kaito being insane anymore, he was starting to actually believe it. He'd been wondering for a while, yes, but this seemed too obvious a sign to ignore….

Hakuba had only looked away for a millisecond, glancing down at the table, but when he returned his gaze to the magician who had been loosely smiling moments before, he was startled by Kaito's completely, entirely, thoroughly **blank** gaze. He was looking off to the side, staring pointedly at neither Hakuba nor Aoko, not even facing in their general direction, and he was still; so very still. The magician was usually moving, even if only fidgeting with his hands, he almost never sat still, energy simply radiating off of him, but now not even a hair was quivering, and Hakuba thought that perhaps he wasn't even _breathing_. By the entirely neutral and unreadable expression on his face and the way he looked as if time had simply frozen around him in his state of perpetual, vacuous being, Hakuba actually toyed with the idea that what he was looking at was a dummy; some life-like replica of the magician Kaito had set in his place to prepare for some impending prank. This wouldn't be the first time the prankster had used self-replicas…. But this thought was dismissed as Kaito's lips slowly turned upwards into a neutral, lifeless smile. "Yeah, I guess so," was his only response to Hakuba's accusation, his voice largely deadpan with just a hint of forced humor, nothing else quivering through.

Despite the very neutral, collected expression Kuroba was wearing, Aoko seemed to sense something, because the next moment Hakuba felt Aoko hit him hard on the arm, hard enough to actually make him yelp, mostly out of surprise and slightly in pain. He looked at her, eyes wide, startled. Aoko _rarely_ swatted at him -such actions were typically reserved for Kaito- and she _never_ caused even the slightest pain. It wasn't as if Hakuba couldn't take it, or that it really hurt that badly, he was just surprised that the girl had actually been _aiming_ to hurt him, even if only mildly.

"Don't be a jerk!" She admonished, lowering her voice only slightly when several people shushed her, her tone still tight and angry. "I expect better from _you_ , Hakuba-kun! And besides, Kaito's got the smartest doves in the _whole world_! And he really cares about them so don't pick on him for something like _that_! If he says his dove could use therapy then I believe him and you should too!" She huffed, sitting straight-backed in her chair, and Hakuba had the decency to blush in shame and embarrassment, trying to mutter out an apology but only managing some unintelligible noises.

Kaito looked surprised too, for a moment, before his features softened into a fond smile. He was pleased by his best friend's protective nature. Aoko didn't mind people teasing Kaito regularly, especially since he teased others and pulled pranks on a daily basis, but if she ever sensed that her friend was feeling legitimately scorned (something that only she and Kaito's mother could sense from the Poker-Faced magician), whomever was teasing Kaito soon found themselves facing the wrath of a girl who could do some _serious damage_ with a mop. It was one of the reasons that, despite having pranked nearly everyone in the school on multiple occasions, nobody lashed out at the magician. That, and he _was_ a rather likable and popular guy, so even if someone _did_ get angry with him they couldn't act on it without facing both the inspector's daughter and a number of peers and teachers. And _that_ was if the magician himself didn't prank the unfortunate, hateful soul with a vengeance first. Kaito was like the school mascot: A celebrity, and even if you're one of the few who hate him, there's really nothing you could do about it without subsequently committing social suicide.

Aoko went easy on Hakuba for a couple of reasons. The first was because he was a nice guy, a friend, polite and usually fairly well-behaved, and he tried not to let Kaito's pranks and weirdness get to him, despite the _excessive_ amount of teasing he received from the magician. Secondly, Kaito seemed to get seriously annoyed by Hakuba much more easily than he did by anyone else, and Aoko didn't quite know what to make of that, so she just let Kaito get annoyed. A little bit of pay-back was good for him all the same.

But she _wouldn't_ let even _Hakuba_ , someone she considered to be one of hers and Kaito's closest friends (even if Kaito claimed to hate the guy), tease Kaito for caring about his doves. She knew they were really special and important to her best friend, and she'd be _damned_ if she let _anyone_ make him feel bad over taking such good care of the creatures he adored!

And so, Kaito watched with amusement as Aoko continued to glare at Hakuba, waiting for a proper apology, and Hakuba choked out some jumbled sounds. He laughed. "It's alright, Aoko. The blond idiot can't possibly understand how magical my doves really are."

Aoko huffed one more time, but let it go. She still looked anything but pleased as she began tapping a bit roughly on the laptop's mouse button.

Hakuba cleared his throat, composing himself before daring to look away from the seething girl. "I…. I am sorry, Kuroba. I have a bird too, I'm sure you know. My hawk, Watson. Genetically hawks are more intelligent than doves, but I shouldn't presume to know precisely what intellectual level your doves are at. Thinking that they're not smart enough to be able to benefit from therapy is probably a massive underestimation of you on my part. I shouldn't doubt your capability of pushing your doves' training past the theoretical level evolution-wise."

Kaito regarded him for a moment before shrugging, a more relaxed posture returning to his body. "Okay, I'll let it slide this once. Mostly because I should already expect you to make stupid comments on a daily basis anyway. Your level of ignorance is so extreme, you could probably get it patented."

Aoko whapped the magician on his arm, lightly, and began to scold him, Kaito smirking back at her all the while before flipping her skirt and being chased around the library, one of the librarians yelling for them to take it outside and subsequently getting shushed herself.

Hakuba, all things considered, took the jab in stride. He might perhaps have deserved it this time, and he was used to the magician's antics by now, though they still annoyed him to no end. As Aoko chased Kaito out of the library, brandishing a mop with a label reading "Ekoda Public Library Maintenance" along the handle, Hakuba took it upon himself to check out the nine books for the magician and carry them outside. Hakuba followed behind the arguing childhood friends as they danced about on the way home, Hakuba wondering all the while if Aoko was ever going to return the mop she'd technically just stolen.

 **A/N:** **Reviews=Love. Dopey wants your love. Love him. ;D**


	6. Chapter Six: Tiny Couch

**Chapter Six:** **Tiny Couch**

 **A/N:** **Tiny cooooouuuuuccchhh-! (Like Tiny Rick, but, you know, Tiny Couch. Haha. Yeah.)**

Kaito pushed at the bridge of his square-rimmed glasses, settling them more securely on his face and lifting the notepad in his lap before looking back at his patient. He positioned his pen over the paper before him, observing Dopey. He was taking his new role as dove-shrink _very seriously_ , so of course, he'd made sure to look the part, too.

The young dove was nestled down nicely on a small, hand-made leather therapy couch, the perfect size for a dove, its feathers all puffed-out and relaxed. Why Kaito had thought it was a good idea to actually make the couch, Heaven only knows, and Aoko would later wonder how Kaito even _knew_ enough about carpentry to make a tiny couch, but for now none of that mattered: It was just Kaito and Dopey, alone in the living room, Kaito sitting in a rocking chair and Dopey on his little couch, which was propped up on the coffee table for height.

"So tell me, how has it made you feel the last couple of days, knowing that you for-sure won't be allowed to go out at night anymore, at least for a while?" The dove stared at him, not making a sound, unmoving, unblinking. Just... stared...

"That's alright. Take your time," Kaito encouraged with a nod. He stared, and the dove stared back, but Kaito never was one for sitting still, so he ended up giving up on the question. "Alright, we'll come back to that one. How about... I know you enjoy going out at night currently. What do you love so much about it, specifically?"

The dove stared at him for a moment more before a glint caught its attention from out of the corner of its eye. It turned its head and bent its head down, moving so that one of its eyes was dangerously close to one of the round, metal half-spheres of shiny bronze metal that served as decoration, set into the leather of the couch at intervals and also framing the edges of the leather on the bottom ridge. The dove turned and poked at it with its beak, the contact of beak-on-metal making a soft _tink_ sound.

"Really? The shiny objects? I guess there are a lot of really nice _those-things_ when we go out at night..." Kaito paused when the dove continued to peck at the decoration. "Y-yeah, okay, I got it, shiny things. You can stop doing that now." The dove continued to peck, this time turning its full body towards the shiny object. "Hey, seriously, stop or you're gonna-" A small snap sound was heard as the thread holding the half-bead to the leather came lose, the metal object rolling down to rest on the couch near the dove's talons. "Aaaand you tore it..."

Kaito sighed and reached forward to grab the bead; he could always repair the couch later. As he was grabbing it, the dove turned and pulled another one loose. Kaito went to retrieve that one too... But Dopey swallowed it... And then proceeded to choke on it.

Kaito groaned and face-palmed before putting his notepad down, his brow furrowing slightly in concern, forcing himself to keep his cool. He picked up the dove and turned it up-side-down, shaking it gently. "I swear if I have to grab my Avian Medical Kit for this..." The bead came out easily enough, falling back onto the coffee-table. "... Gross."

Kaito sighed and carried Dopey over to the TV-stand at the edge of the room, setting him there before going back to the coffee-table, picking up the other bead and the couch, and throwing it all in his silver trash-bin to be properly sorted into the other recycling bins before trash-day on Friday. When he walked back into the living room Dopey was positioned at the edge of the TV-stand, preparing to jump off and glide back to the coffee-table. Kaito rushed forward and caught him as he leapt out into mid-air and realized all-to-late that his wing was still sprained, still in a sling, and ineffective in the use of flying.

Kaito managed to cup the dove in his hands before it could hit anything, at this point not even phased by the dove's reckless and forgetful behavior. "Oh, Dopey, _honestly_ …. Maybe being a dove-shrink won't be so easy..." In reality he was beginning to wonder if Hakuba was right: If he really _was_ just insane... But no, he'd give this a try, at least for a while, mostly because he didn't really have any other options, and he was sick and tired of feeling guilty over Dopey's injuries and bouts of depression.

…. When Aoko threw out her trash that night, she noticed the small, slightly-damaged hand-made couch and, as previously discussed, wondered when her friend had gained such skills before retrieving and repairing the couch. She'd ask Kaito why he'd thrown it out later and, if appropriate, offer it back to him...

By the following morning, Kaito had raided his mother's room for her jewelry and had made a small pile of the larger, more durable shiny objects he could find in his room, leaving them on a pillow upon his work-desk. Dopey was entertained with them for a while, but after a couple of hours and especially that night when the sun went down and stopped emphasizing the luminous qualities of the jewelry, he lost interest in the items and took to pecking at the window, peering out at the night beyond it, and to occasionally looking at the portrait of Kuroba Toichi on the wall, knowing that there was often a correlation between when Kaito went in there and when he had a heist.

"Yeah, I'd kinda figured shiny objects wouldn't work," Kaito admitted to his largely empty room, Dopey and a couple of other doves being the only occupants there with him. "It's not like you've had much contact with my targets anyway, and you always seemed happiest before and during the show, not after when I already had what I was aiming for." Kaito returned the jewelry to his mother's unoccupied bedroom before going to bed.

"Try not to fall off the table while I'm sleeping," was the last comment he made to Dopey before falling into a fitful sleep, all the time wondering what he was going to do next.

 **A/N:** **Bit of background on how I came up with the character of Dopey, for anyone who's wondering: This story was mildly inspired by BakaThief's story "DOPEY" on DeviantArt, but the character of Dopey himself is of my own design. He's based largely on a friend of mine I work with, Jason, who's autistic but very, very friendly and rather high-functioning. One of my ex-boyfriends/current friends also has Asperger's Syndrome, which is a milder form of Autism. Dopey is smart for a bird, but he's got the characterizations of a young teen human being with Autism, based on real people I know. The funny thing about the Autistic people I've known is that they tend to be child-like in some regards, but highly intelligent in others. My ex is studying to be a chemical engineer and he's brilliant at it, so clearly he's far from stupid. Some people think Autistic people are hard to deal with, lack intelligence and are frustrating but, like Dopey, by my experience they tend to have at least one or two strong-suites they're fantastic at, and some of their quirks, if you're patient enough to stick with them and have a big heart, can be pretty endearing, I'd say. Just like my Dopey. So, yup, that's my thought-process behind Dopey actually. Bit different than you were expecting, more serious and real, perhaps?**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review~! ^^**


	7. Chapter Seven: Surveillance

**Chapter Seven: Surveillance**

 **A/N:** **This chapter we get the return of a special character, who will be making repeat appearances for pretty much the rest of the story. A special character…. And friends. Lol. Also, I got zero reviews on the last chapter and, not gonna lie, I'm kinda fairly sad, but oh well, the story must go on! *Shrugs* I hope you enjoy the update!**

Edogawa Conan was on the way home from school when he first noticed it. A quiet, yet distinct flapping sound, frantic and quick, and then a distance-muffled _squawk_ and _thwack_ that almost imposed upon him a sense of déjà vu, the "thwack" sounding a bit rougher and more like flesh-impacting-concrete than the last time he'd heard it. He stopped mid-step on the sidewalk and turned, looking around. For a second he thought he caught a glimpse of white near a building behind him before it ducked around a corner.

 _'What was that?'_ He wondered, turning around on the sidewalk and starting towards the building.

"Hey, Conan, where're you going?!" Genta asked, the rest of the Detective Boys also turning to look behind them, and Conan suddenly remembered _'oh, yeah, I'm not alone.'_ He'd been so distracted by the flapping he'd heard behind him for the last three blocks that he'd almost forgotten that Ai, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi were there with him, all of them walking home together as they typically did.

"Did you see something Conan?" Ayumi asked, tilting her head in inquiry.

"Was there a crime?! Do we have a new case now?! What'd you see?!" Genta demanded.

"Yeah, don't hide things from us if you saw something, like you usually do! Just tell us!" Mitsuhiko insisted, and suddenly Conan was surrounded by the other children, the three of them crowding around him and demanding answers as he tried to back away, his hands up in surrender.

"Ahah, no, no, I didn't see anything, honest!" Conan insisted.

"That's right," Ai nodded, stepping up next to the others. "He's just looking out for his new friend."

They all turned to her, eyes going wide. Conan hadn't realized she'd noticed that someone was following them too. Conan himself hadn't been sure of it until Ai had voiced her own knowledge of their observer.

"What, a new friend? Conan, who's your new friend?" Ayumi demanded desperately, looking back at him, her eyes wide and hands clenched together in front of her. _'I hope it's not another girl!'_ She thought desperately to herself. The last time Conan made a new friend it'd been _Ai_ he added to the group, and Ayumi had a hard time adjusting to her arrival, though she had warmed up to Ai by now, of course.

"No, no, it's nothing, honest!" Conan insisted. He laughed nervously and dodged around them. "Uh, race you back to Agasa's house!"

"Conan!"

"Hey, wait up!"

The three children began to race after him and Ai sighed, picking up her pace to a quick jog, but refusing to full-out sprint as the others were doing. As the distance between her and the others increased, she looked up and noticed the white fuzzy body that passed above her, heading in the same direction as the others. She wasn't one-hundred-percent positive that the bird was actually following Conan, or of who the dove belonged to, but she had a decent guess. If it belonged to who she assumed it belonged to, she honestly wasn't concerned about any security issues such surveillance could theoretically cause. If the Kaitou KID wanted to figure out all of Conan's secrets, Ai truly doubted that anything would be able to stop him, and while she wasn't entirely thrilled by the idea of her secrets being uncovered as well, she could think of many worse people to have snooping around. She'd take a boy in white over a man in black any day.

Besides, as she'd said it before, she did believe the thief was likely a rather kind-hearted person. If she ever got the chance, she'd tell him he was in the wrong line of profession. Either way, she rarely saw Conan as relaxed, happy, and excited as he was at KID-heists; they provided him the same intellectual stimulation as the best of his most complicated murder cases _without_ the tendency to include dead bodies and real life-and-death stakes. If he failed and the thief got away with the jewel at the end of the night, it'd be returned in a few days anyway, so what was the harm? Ai could appreciate that and, secretly, she herself enjoyed KID's magic shows. They were entertaining, as to be expected from a world-class performer, and while she wasn't fanatical about him like some of his crazed fans, she could still mildly appreciate a charming young man from a distance.

The dove ahead of her was jerking about in the air a bit, and she couldn't help but wonder why it looked so….. Awkward was the first word that came to mind. Maybe it'd injured itself when it hit that wall earlier? That was another thing; KID's doves were well-trained and exceptionally cared for, so why was this one _running into things…?_

Conan didn't have such questions. He already had a good guess as to why this particular dove was so quirky.

When Conan and the others arrived at Professor Agasa's house they went inside, Ai arriving just a couple of minutes behind them. Dopey landed on the fence outside and was peering in through the large bay windows of Professor Agasa's house.

The others were still asking after what Ai had meant by "Conan's new friend," but Conan was busy staring at the dove while it stared back.

' _It_ _ **does**_ _realize I can see it, right? It's not very good at surveillance…. Which means,_ _if_ _KID sent it to watch me, he probably doesn't care if I know it's here.'_ Conan snorted. _'It's still probably_ _ **supposed**_ _to be keeping itself hidden. He really is a dopey bird.'_ Somehow Conan found himself smiling fondly though, and he thought perhaps he understood why KID was more expressive at that heist all those weeks ago, when Conan'd first met Dopey. KID had been a bit more human that time, less phantom-thief and more caretaker as he mildly reprimanded his dove.

Conan wondered if the bird remembered him, and if it would react well to him if he approached it. Eventually his curiosity got the best of him and he opened the back sliding-glass door, Professor Agasa pausing in his motions of serving watermelon to look at him. The others noticed and watched Conan pause in the doorway too, Genta still eating his large slice as he watched.

"What are you up to now, Conan-kun?" Agasa asked, not really expecting an answer.

As Conan slid the glass door open, Dopey seemed to panic a bit. He started, flapped, fell forward off the fence (much to Conan's amusement), and then scampered off on-foot towards a nearby bush, having decided that the fastest way to hide after he'd fallen onto the plush green grass of Agasa's yard was to walk to the bush rather than try to get off the ground again and fly somewhere.

Conan stifled his laughter, Ayumi walking over to look over Conan's shoulder out at the yard, watching alongside him as Dopey scampered off into the bushes.

"That's a funny bird," she observed, though the bird being a bit strange didn't warrant such rapt attention from Conan, in her opinion.

"You have no idea," Conan mumbled under his breath before stepping out into the yard. "Dopey!" He called. "I know you're there already." The dove stuck its head out around some branches from inside a bush to look at him. "…. You remember me, don't you? Come here." Conan held out his hand in a similar way to how he'd seen KID do it before, his fingers outstretched to form a perch for the bird. Dopey seemed to consider for a moment before making up his mind and spreading his wings.

Conan wasn't quite sure how they did it, but he knew that most birds had a talent for being able to take off into flight even from the center of a bush or while in a tree. How they managed it with such limited space, surround by branches, without hitting their wings and hurting themselves, he didn't know, but he knew birds could do it.

Birds in general…. But not Dopey, apparently. The dove tried to take off, its wings getting caught in the branches, and it ended up face-planting in front of the bush, once again smacking onto the ground. Conan cringed in sympathy and wondered if the bird's brain had been rattled by one-too-many crashes.

Ayumi made a slight sound of distress next to him. "Aww, is that birdie okay? That looked like it hurt…." To Dopey's credit, he got up and shook himself off with gusto, seemingly happy enough and largely uninjured. He fell a lot, but always seemed to maintain his dopey happiness and pep, ruffling his feathers in excitement as he took off again, this time making it to Conan's hand. He almost over-shot and fell forward off Conan's fingers, but Conan lifted his other hand and steadied the bird before it could fall.

"I almost can't believe how clumsy you are," Conan said to it, and the dove pecked him lightly in retribution.

Ayumi's eyes were wide, and after seeing the dove come to Conan, the other two children were now leaving their watermelon forgotten behind them, rushing over to see what was going on.

"Wow! Do animals really love you enough to come to you like that Conan? It's so pretty! Do you think I could pet it?"

Conan nodded. "He probably wouldn't mind." Conan held the bird out to her and Ayumi cupped her hands. Dopey didn't look sure if he wanted to go to her, a stranger, but Conan shook his hand a bit and the dove, now lacking a stable perch, was forced into her hands. Once he was in Ayumi's gentle embrace he relaxed, realizing quickly that she wasn't going to hurt him. "Normal, non-domesticated birds wouldn't just come to me like that, Ayumi. I already know this bird, and who it belongs to. This is my new friend Ai was talking about earlier. I wouldn't really call it a friend of mine, but…." Dopey looked at him and let out what Conan could almost describe as a sad coo, but Conan didn't respond.

Genta and Mitsuhiko crowded around Ayumi, watching the dove. Ayumi's eyes were wide and gleaming as she looked down at the fluffy bird in her cupped hands. "It's so soft and plush!" She squealed happily.

Professor Agasa had, by this point, come up and was peering down at the animal as well. "It's a friend of yours, Conan-kun, and it's a domestic bird? Well, it looks clean and healthy, so you can bring it inside if you'd like."

Conan shrugged while the others enthusiastically nodded in agreement, Ayumi carrying the dove inside and sitting at the table next to Ai. Genta and Mitsuhiko stood behind her and Conan sat across the table, picking up a piece of watermelon as he went. He'd planned on eating it…. But his mind was changed for him when Dopey saw it and decided he wanted the seeds, attacking the slice and knocking it onto the table before landing on it and digging out one of the black little seeds, getting red juice and bits of the fruit all over his talons, beak, and under-side feathers. The kids laughed and Conan rolled his eyes.

"You like watermelon then, I take it," he observed. The dove cooed happily in response, still attacking the fruit merrily. "I wonder if your owner would approve of this. I really doubt it," Conan said, his tone slightly reprimanding in a _'you know what I'm implying'_ way. The dove ruffled his feathers and shook his head as if to deny Conan's accusation that it was misbehaving, but it did hop off the watermelon slice and shook itself off, little drops of watermelon juice flying about and landing on the other people at the table.

"Ahh, sorry for the mess Professor!" Conan apologized.

"It's alright, my boy. Watermelon juice is mostly water, so no harm done, and I already knew there'd be a bit of a mess. Watermelon is a messy food if you're enjoying it properly, after all! It won't be too difficult to clean up."

Conan nodded, throwing away his now ruined piece and grabbing some napkins before picking Dopey up and beginning to wipe the bird down, knowing that KID would be annoyed if his bird came home covered in sticky juice and with bits of dried watermelon caked onto its feathers. Conan knew that things like this were best to clean immediately, since it would be harder to properly clean the bird after the fruit dried out on it.

Dopey protested the wiping vehemently, but Conan ignored his struggles until both it and the table-top were clean before setting the bird back on the table, Agasa having re-located the watermelon onto the nearby countertop. Dopey eyed it and crouched, as if preparing to fly at it.

"You better not," Ai spoke up, looking at the bird. "Your master won't be happy if he finds out you were causing trouble." The bird warbled at her, but ultimately took her advice and stayed put.

"So who's bird is this," Mitsuhiko voiced the question. "It belongs to someone you know, right? What was its name again?" Leave it to the most studious of the children to ask all the questions.

Before Conan could come up with a decent answer, Genta spoke up. "Can I pet it too?" He asked, reaching forward. Conan started.

"Wait! Genta, just, be careful, okay?" Conan knew that birds were small, light, and fragile, and Genta had a tendency to get carried away. He was a massive boy for his age, strong and rambunctious. As annoyed as KID would be if his bird returned messy, he'd be down-right pissed off and upset if it came back _injured_. The way Conan saw it, KID had sent Dopey to watch him because KID trusted Conan to look out for the challenged bird, and trusted that Conan wouldn't hurt it, or allow it to be hurt while under his watch. If he'd been stalking someone else, like the Suzuki Advisor or someone he didn't know, Conan very much doubted that KID would have sent _this_ particular bird to stalk them. Conan almost figured that KID _had_ to of known that Dopey would be seen by Conan. Heck, he probably knew that Conan would try to interact with the bird; KID had a tendency to be three steps ahead, knowing what's going to happen before it actually does. The real question now was _why_ had KID knowingly sent his (presumably) goofiest dove to (assumedly) interact with him? It could be that KID has a reason, or maybe he was just bored or didn't want to deal with Dopey at the time: KID did a number of strange things for a number of strange and/or unknown reasons, so any guess Conan made was probably equally as likely as any other guess.

Genta heeded Conan's warning and pet the dove gently on the head, treating it as if it were made of glass and still petting it just a little too roughly for the bird to enjoy. It looked annoyed, but put up with it all the same. It was largely neutral to Mitsuhiko's stroking of its tail feathers, but it cooed when Ayumi stroked its wings and chest, nuzzling into her light, warm, soft, and friendly touch.

Once Genta was done petting it, Ai tried to nonchalantly reach out and pet it, feigning disinterest and looking bored. When her fingers brushed Dopey's head and he cooed and nuzzled them back, a small smile forced its way onto her lips, and Conan decided that he wouldn't mind if KID sent Dopey over every once in a while. If this was the bird he was sending, then it wasn't as if he was seriously trying to pry into Conan's secrets, so honestly? Yeah, he didn't think he'd mind having Dopey come over at all. Even if it was a bit insufferable and reminded him of its bothersome owner.

 **A/N:** **I kid you not, I was out for a walk while writing this chapter (don't ask how) and as I was walking by my local oil change place a** **dove** **flew straight into the side of the little oil change place with a** _ **"smack"**_ **. It didn't fall to the ground, just kinda bounced off the grey wall and changed its trajectory, flying off and up to a nearby tree. Still, it was hilarious. I was thinking** _ **"huh, so doves really DO just crash into walls**_ _ **if**_ _ **they're goofs. I guess Dopey's even more realistic than I thought…."**_ **Lol.** **He's slightly based on a parrot I've interacted with before that sometimes ran into and fell off things, but it was still funny. XD**

 **Anyway, there's another one of my Author's Personal Anecdotes (my stories/Author Notes tend to have them). Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading, and please review~!**


	8. Chapter Eight: Correspondence

**Chapter Eight: Correspondence**

 **A/N:** **Sorry for the delay. I've had this chapter written for awhile now…. Actually, I have the next few chapters written already too…. I just hadn't gotten around to publishing yet.**

 **Well, I hope you enjoy~!**

That night, when Dopey returned to the Kuroba residence, he was happy, tired, and content. Kaito was very pleased.

"Did Tantei-kun give you enough attention, little attention hog? You're supposed to be a bird; you're so needy!" He teased. He understood the dove's desire to be seen though; it wanted to be out, getting attention, meeting people…. Tantei-kun had just seemed the best fit, given the circumstances, and Kaito trusted Conan since the be-speckled boy had, of his own accord, cared for one of KID's injured doves before. Sending Dopey to tap in on the excitement in Conan's life for a change seemed to have been the right decision to make.

As Kaito greeted the bird with a fond ruffling of its features and kiss to the top of its head, he realized there was a little slip of paper tied neatly around its leg. Interest piqued, he reached out and retrieved the note.

 _"I don't know why you sent Dopey to spy on me, KID, but you've always been a strange one._

 _When you send him next time there better be a bit of an explanation, at least…. Or a nice puzzle, or heist notice, or a rose, or **something** as an offering, as payment for me taking care of your bird._

 _Also, send him on Sundays. My friends are already getting attached and it'll be easier for them to play with him when we don't have school. I know you're an old man, but **some** of us have better things to do on weekdays than babysit for you."_

Kaito very much doubted that Conan actually thought he was an old man; the boy probably knew he was a teen. Kaito also doubted that Conan actually wanted to be going to kiddy-school, but he knew what Conan really meant: _"I wouldn't mind if you sent Dopey over once a week, and me and my friends will take care of him for the day. In fact, please do send him over."_ That was essentially what the Little Detective was saying, though not nearly so directly. It was almost funny, to Kaito, how quickly Conan had taken to the bird. Dopey did have a certain something that made him endearing, something Kaito himself had felt since shortly after the bird's birth. It was one thing for Kaito to be attached (he would be, naturally, since Dopey _was_ part of what Kaito considered to be his immediate family), but Kaito could always tell that the bird knew how to be friendly and lovable with other people too. Dopey was more _trusting_ than most of the other doves.

Kaito continued to read the note:

 _"You're a strange person KID, and you should be careful. I was almost tempted to follow Dopey back to you."_ Kaito knew he wouldn't do that. _"Your surveillance works both ways. I'd get a restraining order out on you, but then I wouldn't be able to attend your heists. I plan to catch you at the next one, so we're perfectly clear._

 _Until then,_

 _-Edogawa Conan"_

Kaito shook his head. Conan really was a funny kid.

When Dopey next visited Conan, he had a return note attached to his leg. He stopped by the Mouri Detective Agency, flying straight through an open window, despite the fact that it was unfamiliar territory. Mouri Kogoro himself was sitting, watching TV right in front of the window it flew in from, the bird passing by over his head.

The man jumped up, drunk and startled by the intruder. He screamed. "Raaaan! A flying rat just flew in the window!" He glared at the bird, picking up an unopened beer can and throwing it at the bird as Ran and Conan ran into the room.

"No!" Conan shouted, trying to catch the can before it could hit the bird, assuming that Kogoro's aim was even good enough to hit the bird where it'd landed on their coffee-table.

Conan couldn't make it in time, but Ran grabbed the can out of mid-air and, with a vein bulging in her forehead, walked over to her father and rapped him on the head with it. "Don't throw things at unsuspecting, innocent animals! If you don't want it in here just grab it and drop it back out the window!" She reprimanded, finding her father's attempted actions cruel.

Conan ran over to the dove and picked it up. Kogoro glared at him. "You know that flying rodent?"

Conan nodded and laughed nervously. "Uhh, yeah, it's…. It belongs to a, um…." He didn't quite know what to say. Rival? Criminal? …. Friend…?

"Well, hurry up and throw it out the window! I don't want that thing in here!" Conan glared a little and clutched the bird more closely to his chest. "If you won't do it then I'll throw it out myself!"

"Dad!" Ran protested, but Kogoro had already grabbed at the dove. It struggled, and Conan wanted to keep his hold on it, but he fought the urge and instead gave it up without showing any resistance, knowing that if they fought over it the dove would likely end up injured.

The Sleeping Sleuth carried it over to the open window and tossed it out. It flapped frantically, arched in the air, and was back inside the agency in moments, landing on Conan's head while Kogoro was still standing at the window, staring over his shoulder at it. "What the-"

Ran giggled. "Aww, it really likes you Conan-kun!" She commented. Conan just nodded absentmindedly, reaching up to retrieve the dove from his head and noticing for the first time the return note attached to its leg.

Detective Mouri huffed. "If that thing's not gonna go out easy, I'll tie it to a rock and see how it flies then!" He went to grab for it again, but this time Conan turned away before he could touch it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Conan warned. "If you do, its owner would really make you pay."

Kogoro crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? And who's that?"

Conan smiled. "The Kaitou KID. You know, the guy who publicly humiliates you and half of the second-division police force on a regular basis? I can only imagine what he might do to you if you hurt one of his birds."

Kogoro scoffed, though he did look a bit apprehensive. "I…. I don't care. I'm not scared of KID." He was, but he couldn't let them know that.

Ran rolled her eyes. "Just leave it alone, Dad."

"But Ran, it's probably got diseases and germs!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Dad, it's _KID's_ dove! It's domestic, clean, and healthy! It hasn't got any germs or diseases!" The man looked like he wanted to argue some more. "Just leave it alone," she repeated. "Unless you wanna make dinner yourself tonight? And do the grocery shopping later?" And as scary as KID could be when he wanted to, Mouri Kogoro _definitely_ didn't want to piss off his terrifyingly strong daughter, so he went back to watching TV, grumbling as he went, opening the beer he'd thrown earlier and having it spew out all over him. He grumbled about that too, but ultimately didn't get involved with the bird again.

"So why is one of KID-san's doves here, Conan-kun?" Ran asked, leaning down and petting the dove. It enjoyed this _a lot_. "Aw, it's so cute and soft! What do you know about it Conan?"

"His name is Dopey," Conan supplied, carrying the dove off towards the kitchen, to a separate room from where the still-irked Mouri was grumbling at his desk. Once there he set the bird on the kitchen table and retrieved the note. "I'm not really sure why KID-san's been sending him to me, but I don't mind! I don't think he's spying on me because he'd send a smarter bird if he wanted to do that. Maybe his dove just wanted someone to play with and I was the first person he thought of? We did take care of one of his other doves for him once, remember?"

Ran nodded. "Yeah, I do remember that," she said, thinking back to the Memory Egg case. She stroked the dove's feathers while Conan read the note.

 _"Ah, Tantei-kun, I knew you'd take a liking to him~! You did communicate well on the roof that night when you met._

 _Dopey's been a bit sad since I banned him from attending heists, so I thought you might be able to cheer him up. As usual, you did not disappoint._ _(_ _●´ω｀●_ _) Thanks for that."_

 _'Good Lord KID is quirky,'_ Conan thought in exasperation of KID's use of emojis. And what, he just wanted Conan to keep his bird company after all? What a truly insane, unique human being KID was. Conan could appreciate the intreaging nature of KID, but he still found it all to be a bit much. Just a tad.

 _"Sundays it is! I'm sure he'll look forward to it every week._

 _If you want the next heist notice, you'll just have to wait for the mail like everyone else. Don't think that having your own personal messenger-bird to me means you'll get notes early. Besides, we both know you don't need the extra time._ _(^∇^)_

 _See you soon, Tantei-kun!_

 _-KK_

 _6)-'-,-"_

Conan rolled his eyes. Well, KID hadn't sent him a puzzle, or a heist note, but he _had_ provided some explanation for Dopey's arrival, and Conan was pretty sure the little text-art with the "6" at the end of the note was supposed to be some kind of rose doodle. KID probably couldn't convince Dopey to carry an actual full-sized rose all the distance, however far the dove had to travel, so a drawing of a rose was the next best thing.

And Conan hadn't thought about it until KID mentioned it, but yeah, sending Dopey with a message was like the weird Kaitou version of giving someone his phone number and saying _"text me~!"_ That was kinda neat. Not many people had KID's personal contact info, as far as Conan saw it.

"So what's it say? It's from KID, right?" Ran asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah! He just said that since Dopey and I met a while back he thought we could be friends, and Dopey wanted to see me! He's gonna let Dopey come over on Sundays so my friends and I can play with him!"

Ran nodded. "Oh, that's nice." She paused. "You…. Don't think we should tell the police though? They might be able to use Dopey-kun to catch KID-san, right?"

Conan frowned. "Well that'd be really rude, wouldn't it? I don't think that's a fair way to catch KID! That's like holding someone he loves hostage! The police shouldn't do something like that. _I_ don't wanna do that," Conan argued.

Ran nodded. "It's okay, we don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to. Sonoko's a KID fan too, so I share a bit of the sentiment, and while I still think he's a thief and should probably be caught, he isn't hurting anyone, and using his own bird against him _would_ be a pretty awful thing to do, wouldn't it?"

Conan smiled at her and nodded, glad that she understood.

From then on, Ran kept a small container of bird-seed stocked in their pantry to use on Sundays.

 **A/N:** **Dopey loves your reviews. Kaito writes them on sticky notes and Dopey hides them around the house for me to find. Sometimes he eats them and I only find bits of torn paper….**

 **…. I've no idea how I just came up with such nonsense. Haha. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review~! ^^**


	9. Chapter Nine: Coming Around

**Chapter Nine: Coming Around**

It was a casual Sunday evening and Dopey was perched on the arm-rest of one of the couches of the Mouri Detective Agency, taking a rest from the strenuous events of the day before making his flight back home.

The Detective Boys had gathered early that morning and gone to the park, Dopey of course tagging along with them. Once there they enjoyed some general play-time, Dopey twice getting in the way of the kids' football game by flying into the center of their field, wanting to be the center of attention as he typically desired, and nearly getting hit by the ball. Ai committed to holding him while she observed from a park bench after that until the kids were ready to play hide-and-seek instead.

Dopey was exceptionally good at helping the seeker cheat by watching the others hide and then flying to their locations. They didn't play that game for more than a few rounds. Lunch proceeded in an equally Dopey fashion when Conan offered the bird some seeds Ran had packed for it and Dopey decided that he'd prefer the bread and lettuce from Genta's sandwich. Genta was _not_ open to sharing, so he ran, eating his sandwich as he went and Dopey in hot pursuit after him as they raced around the park. That ultimately led to a game of tag after lunch, which was largely successful since Dopey could fly about around them, feeling as if he was participating without really getting in the way or being put in harm's way.

At some point Dopey got distracted by the other birds in the park and decided to pick some fights and chase a few off, as if defending his territory: He didn't want any of the other birds to steal the attention of the children from him. Compared to the average wild bird, Dopey was still a large, strong, and intelligent young male dove. Even the worst (or arguably best) of KID's doves was still better than an average bird in nearly every way, so Dopey won all of his fights and successfully drove off most of the other birds….

Until a number of the wild pigeons he'd picked on decided to gang up on him. The Detective Boys ultimately had to come to his rescue after that, and another, more serious game of tag ensued as Dopey raced around the park with five other birds on his trail, the kids racing around behind the birds and trying to catch up.

All-in-all, while one might theoretically find Dopey's tendency to find trouble annoying or bothersome, the children took it all in stride. They found most of what Dopey did to be hilarious and fun rather than irksome. Ai especially had enjoyed watching everything go down from the sidelines, the bird occasionally pausing whatever he was doing to stop by and say hello, letting her pet it for a few minutes before returning to the fun.

But all of that was done for the day: Conan was bathing upstairs, and Dopey, as previously stated, was resting on the couch. Ran would stop and pet him every once in a while as she moved about the house, tidying up and making sure both she and Conan had everything they needed for school the following day packed and ready to go. She went to the kitchen to finish up their bento boxes so they could cool overnight, making sure to leave a window open for Dopey to exit through when he was ready and a small ceramic bowl full of seeds on the table in case he was hungry.

Mouri Kogoro was watching TV and drinking a beer, as he was oft to doing in the evenings…. And all day…. When his phone rang. He looked up and peered around, realizing that he'd left his phone in his coat pocket, which was hanging by the door (it had previously been draped over the back of the couch, but Ran had put it in its proper place whilst cleaning up).

Kogoro groaned, not wanting to get up. "Raaann, my phone's in my coat pocket across the room."

Ran's voice responded from the kitchen. "So? Just go get it!"

"I don't wanna. Where's the freeloader?" He definitely wouldn't mind making Conan get it for him.

"He's upstairs getting ready for bed. Just leave him alone and get it yourself, or don't get it at all!"

Kogoro grumbled and weighed his options. Before he could come to a conclusion, the phone stopped ringing…. And then started ringing again a minute later. He groaned.

Dopey watched this all unfold with rapt interest. He'd seen his master in a similar dilemma before, usually when Kaito was sick, injured, or tired after a long heist. Dopey found the task to be menial and stupid, but if it would earn him good praise as it often elicited from Kaito, then he would do it.

With his mind made up, Dopey leapt off the couch and flew over to the buzzing phone. He dug around in the coat's pocket and pulled the phone out, grasping it tightly in his talons before carrying it over to Kogoro's desk and placing it down before the man. Kogoro stared, dumbfounded by what he'd just witnessed.

"Woah, this bird's actually pretty smart, huh?" He said to no-one in particular, but Dopey cooed in response all the same. "Well, thanks, I guess." The call ended up being a scam call, but that didn't really matter so much. Mouri Kogoro's interest had been peaked, and now he was wondering what else he could convince the bird to get for him.

Before he could test anything out, Dopey decided it was time to go home: If he was late Kaito would definitely be mad. The dove took off, flying out the open window and off into the descending night sky.

Kogoro watched it go with an unamused stare. "Yeah, whatever…." Either way, he stopped complaining as much about the bird coming over on Sundays.

 **A/N: When did this become "Dopey and Friends"? XD**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review~!**


	10. Chapter Ten: A Few More Shenanigans

**Chapter Ten: A Few More Shenanigans**

 **A/N: Thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, followed, and favorited thus-far! Here's some more stupid fun for ya~! ;D**

Conan awoke rather early on a Sunday morning to find Dopey sitting on his forehead, staring down at the young detective. Conan peered up at the bird, sighed, and reached to grab it. He sat up with the bird cupped in his hands and noticed a slip of paper once again tied to the bird's leg with a little blue ribbon.

 _"Sorry for sending Dopey over so early: He deemed it positively necessary to wake me up at four this morning to let him out. He looks forward to these visits all week every week: I would complain, but it's better than him moping about all the day long, don't you agree?_

 _(◕⌣↼)~_

 _He's put on weight again despite the diet I have him on, the little mongrel, so try to keep him from eating bread or sweets or regular human-type foods, if you can. He tends to be rather insistent on disobeying; I'm sure you know all about it by now._

 _(´ω｀；)_

 _Thanks again for looking after him. Major improvement~!_

 _-KK_

 __l_l__

 _(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:~Magic~･ﾟ✧"_

Conan rolled his eyes and crawled out of bed, retrieving his glasses and carrying Dopey downstairs with him. He set the dove on his shoulder as he stepped into the kitchen, yawning along the way.

Ran was busy making a Sunday-morning Western-style breakfast, as she tended to do on Sundays as a special treat. She didn't notice Conan's presence until he pulled up a chair at the table, the wooden legs squealing lightly on the tiled floor.

"Oh, Conan! You're up early for a Sunday, and I see Dopey's here already too." She'd opened the window at the front of the agency half an hour ago to let the dove in, but she hadn't expected him to actually stop by so early.

Ran paused in the process of making biscuits to retrieve a small bowl of seeds from the pantry, which she set on the table as means for the dove's breakfast. Dopey hopped down to them off Conan's shoulder while Conan flopped his arms onto the table and rested his head in them; the detective never had thought of himself as a morning person, he was want to stay up late and sleep in late, so he was far from bushy-tailed and bright-eyed before seven in the morning on a weekend.

Ran finished their Western breakfast of biscuits, slightly-runny scrambled eggs, bacon, orange juice, and diced fruit salad over the course of the next hour and served it. She dragged her father down to breakfast around seven-thirty to eat and they all sat rather quietly to partake in their breakfast, the boys still sluggish and sleepy-eyed. Dopey tried to pick at Conan's biscuit at one point but, keeping in mind what KID said about Dopey's diet, the young detective refused to give him any and pushed the bird away from it, scolding it lightly and reminding it that KID would be disappointed in both of them if he found out.

For the most part, the people all sat quietly through breakfast... But Dopey was lively as could be. A diurnal bird's natural instinct is to be particularly active around sunrise, and Dopey was no exception. He was downright beatific due to being allowed to come by so early on his new favorite day of the week, and greeted the new day as many birds often did; with song.

Dopey was a lovely singer in his own mind, but most others wouldn't agree with him. While he wasn't _horrible_ , his pitch was still a squeaky-high whistle and, most importantly, his pure excitement at times like these made his bird-song rather erratic and garbled. Sometimes, when he was calm, he actually was a beautiful sounding bird, but that was rarely the case, and never when he was so jovial. Perhaps he would have known how bad he sounded in the mornings if not for the fact that Kaito, as well, always seemed to enjoy Dopey's morning songs. The dove had no way of knowing that Kaito loved his bird-song purely because it meant the bird was happy and healthy; he couldn't care less what his dove actually sounded like, so Dopey's singing always put a smile on his face regardless of the sound.

Ran was at least trying to remain neutral to it, but Conan was looking pretty distinctly annoyed, and Mouri Kogoro was quickly becoming downright pissed off.

Dopey was pacing back and forth on the empty spaces of the table, looking around at the increasing amount of sunlight filtering into the room as the sun rose higher above the horizon, making joyful whistles and chirps as his talons pattered back and forth on the wooden table-top.

After a minute of this Conan groaned, and a vein on Kogoro's forehead was bulging. Ran overall tried to pretend she hadn't noticed anything, but occasionally sent worried glances at her father. Finally, he snapped.

"HEY! It's too early in the morning for this! SHUT UP!"

Dopey fell quiet for a moment, tilted his head as he looked at the man, and then decided that Kogoro must be trying to sing with him, since he was being loud now too. Having come to this conclusion, Dopey chirped very merrily and hopped up closer to him, standing on the rim of his plate and chirping repeatedly, bobbing his head up-and-down, back-and-forth, stepping side-to-side, set into motion in a happy little dance. Conan immediately lost his annoyance at this and Ran smiled because, aww, damn that was cute~!

Kogoro's brow twitched and he still looked pissed, but he fell quiet for a while and just stared. Dopey did look incredibly happy, and as studies often showed, happiness is contagious. The older detective didn't end up being happy, per-say, but he did huff in annoyance and decide to leave the bird alone, instead shooing it off his plate with a wave of his hand and light push before returning to eating, Dopey still pacing about the table. As soon as he was done eating he bolted, off to watch TV with the volume up until Dopey finally stopped singing fifteen minutes later.

The dove would have kept singing for another half-hour, until the sun was wholly in the sky and not balanced on the horizon, but something else distracted him, as something usually did. He had a rather short attention span...

What caught his attention this time was Conan's glasses. As the sun rose enough to shine directly through the window, casting beams far enough down the walls to hit Conan's round-rimmed glasses directly, the light gleamed off of them, and Dopey suddenly had a single penetrating thought: _"Shiny!"_

As Conan was going to set his dishes in the sink, his glasses refracted the light in just such a way that Dopey realized exactly how shiny they were and decided they were worth taking. He bounded off the table and fluttered straight at Conan's face. Conan panicked a bit as white encompassed his vision. He almost smacked the bird away on instinct, but caught himself just in time and instead slowed his motions, carefully trying to cover his face and force the bird off. It was too late though: Dopey's talons caught hold of the bridge of the glasses and he carried them off, out of the kitchen and into the agency's main floor.

"Dopey, no, bring those back!" The bird heeded him no mind as it flew off and eventually settled with the glasses on top of a large cabinet on the main agency floor. Kogoro glanced up from the TV every few moments to see what was going on, his interest drawn by the scene unfurling in his place of business and relaxation.

Conan groaned as he realized the bird, and now his glasses, were too high for him to reach them. He looked to Ran, who was standing in the doorway between the agency and the kitchen: She was giggling, hiding her smile behind a hand, but didn't move to help him.

Conan sighed and looked back up at the bird. "Dopey, I _need_ those." Dopey peered down at him before pecking at the glass of one of the lenses.

Conan grunted as he pulled up a chair to stand on, bracing it against the cabinet and standing on his tip-toes to try and reach the bird. He was ultimately unsuccessful. _'Being short again sucks...'_

This is the scene the Detective Boys walked in on: Conan trying to tempt Dopey down with bread, trying to reach up from the chair, and asking Ran repeatedly to help him, only for her to say Dopey would bring them down when he was ready.

Once the other Detective Boys were in the mix, they finally managed to retrieve the lost spectacles. With Conan on Genta's shoulders and Genta on the chair, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko holding the chair steady while Ai watched, they managed to pull the bird and pilfered specs down. Leave it to a KID dove to steal something shiny….

It didn't even end there. For the rest of the day, at the park and out about the town, Dopey continued to snatch the glasses whenever the light glinted off them and attracted his attention. The Detective Boys ended up chasing the bird down using Conan's skateboard all around town for half the day, and by the end of it all Dopey was even more exhausted than usual.

Conan took a shower that night, dressed in his pajamas, and went down to the agency floor to see if Dopey had gone home yet.

When he saw Dopey, his heart nearly stopped. His eyes went wide and he raced over to the couch.

Dopey was laying on his back on the couch, legs up in the air and wings spread out to his sides. Conan had seen birds lay like this before, and every time, they were _dead_.

 _'Oh God, Dopey! KID is going to eviscerate me!'_ He was too accustomed to death for the loss of a bird to reduce him to tears, but his heart still ached at the loss of his new friend, and his detective instincts instantly kicked in. He wanted to know what the _Hell_ had happened, what could possibly have gone wrong to kill the bird who had been young and healthy an hour before.

With slightly shaking hands, Conan reached out to lift the bird, to look him over in search of any injuries. As soon as his fingers came in contact with the bird Dopey's eyes blinked open and his head lifted to look at him. Conan stiffened and the two of them stared at each other for a few moments.

Conan sighed in relief. "Dopey, you stupid bird, I thought you were dead! What was that all about?! Were you just playing dead to scare me or what? Because that's not funny!"

Dopey's eyes blinked sleepily. He rolled, tucking his wings back against his body where previously they had been spread and relaxed at his sides. He rotated until he was back on his feet before snuggling into the couch, his feathers puffed out and relaxed as he peered up at Conan questioningly, his head tilted slightly sideways.

"…. You just sleep up-side-down like that, don't you?" Dopey chirped. "Of course you do..."

Conan groaned, wrote a quick note, attached it to Dopey's leg, picked up the bird, walked over to the open window, and tossed Dopey out. The bird complained.

"It's late, go home!" Conan shut the window and Dopey flew away with a huffy chirp. Conan shook his head in fond exasperation and went off to bed.

 **A/N: _*:~Magic~･ﾟ✧"_ \- I actually have my own IRL Kaito, and it makes me the most ecstatic person ever. I have this young boy I hang out with, you can call him my Little Bro for all intents and purposes, and when he was younger he looked and acted like Dipper from Gravity Falls. Now that he's starting high school and growing, he both startlingly looks like Kaito (messy brown hair, same build, minus the eye color) and he's A MAGICIAN~! He saw how much I love magic and started teaching himself. I was elated, of course, so I buy him any clothes and resources he needs (including a lock-pick set he's gotten pretty good with, though of course he won't actually become a thief, he just likes going places he isn't allowed and showing off for me, lol). He just started high school, where he now has free dress, and every day he dresses in a button-up shirt, slacks, a vest, and has a tie, plus he carries a few tricks on him at all times (and his lock-picks, of course).**

 **He told me that on his first day of school he had a bunch of people look at him and how he dresses and ask "what are you, a rich prick or something?" All condescending and everything, to which he would reply "no, I'm a magician." He said it's funny how people instantly go from trying to pick on him to being starry-eyed and saying "oooh, really? Show me a trick!" And then he does a trick, and they think he's amazing, and it's great. I'm like the luckiest person on the planet: My Little Bro was Dipper when he was younger, and grew into being freaking Kaito, and my Little Sister was and probably forever will be Mabel, like really startlingly they are alike to these characters. It's uncanny! My Little Bro also said he wants to cosplay as KID next year and do tricks at the convention I take them to every year. It's going to be soooo epic, we're going to host a panel and he'll put on a show. I'll try to take some video and post it when the time comes. XD**

 **Alright, another Author's Personal Anecdote done. I'll try to update again soon... I honestly have the next chapter written already and just need to edit and post it... I love Dopey... Anyway, please review~!**


	11. Chapter Eleven: Caretaker

**Chapter Eleven: Caretaker**

Dopey returned home a bit later than Kaito would have liked, unbeknownst to Kaito because Dopey had fallen asleep and thus hadn't realized how late it'd gotten until past the time Kaito was expecting him.

Kaito was prepared to send Dopey straight to bed, able to visibly see the exhaustion in the bird's posture and droopy eyes, and reprimand him for being late tomorrow, but before sending him on his way he noticed the red-ribbon-tied note attached to Dopey's left leg. With a small smirk he retrieved it and unrolled the slip.

 _"Your bird sleeps like the dead. Literally. He looks like he's **dead** when he sleeps. Am I the only one who's bothered by that?_

 _And I know he gets excited, but please, don't send him before sunrise anymore._

 _Sincerely,_

 _-Edogawa Conan"_

Kaito looked up at Dopey. "Oh yeah, I guess your singing is pretty bad in the morning." Dopey made a garbled cooing sound that, if recreated in human speech, might have sounded like _"whaaaahht?"_ Offended, a bit scandalized, and disbelieving. Kaito laughed. "And you scared poor Tantei-kun too! Try not to fall asleep next time and be late coming home because of it, alright?"

Dopey grumbled, but appeared to agree with a small head-nod. Kaito stood to take him to the loft where he kept the other birds, the attic serving as a large indoor coop, but Dopey had other ideas. The dove instead settled in on Kaito's bed-side table and Kaito rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine, but tomorrow you're back in the coop, got it?"

The bird nodded again and chirped quietly, its eyes already beginning to drift closed. Kaito worked on various things at his desk before going to bed, sleeping soundly for a few hours as he tended to do, then inevitably waking up to get ready for school.

Dopey was, of course, asleep on his back, wings spread and legs up like a downed bird. Kaito rolled his eyes and poked the bird softly on its plush chest. "Dopey, wake up; to the coop now so I can get ready and go to school!"

Dopey started awake, rolled sideways, and promptly rolled right off the side of the table, falling to the plush white carpeted floor with a small "coof". Kaito didn't bother catching him, knowing that the bird wouldn't be injured from the short distance, his fall softened by the carpet, and Dopey needed to learn to _stop sleeping on the furniture if he's going to keep falling off!_

Kaito rolled his eyes and lifted the annoyed bird, carrying him off to the loft. He paused on the way and looked down at Dopey. He spoke in a soft, quiet voice. "…. Hey, Dopey. I know you love going to see Tantei-kun on Sundays. If... If I could convince Tantei-kun to keep you as his pet, so that you'd only come visit me on Sundays, would you want to do that instead?" Kaito did not want to give up one of his doves, a dove which he'd raised since its birth and which was practically one of his children, or a little brother to him. Either way, Dopey was _family_ and was one of Kaito's wards. He didn't want to give up his time with him, his ability to care for him on his own, but if it'd make Dopey happy he'd do it, and he knew that regular children tended to "fly the coop" eventually, so to speak. True, doves weren't like real children: Almost every one of the Kuroba doves dating back four dove generations had remained with the Kurobas from the day they were born until the day they died, or else, for the ones still living, they currently resided at the Kuroba household. If Dopey left it would be unusual and sad, Kaito would be a bit heartbroken, but he would allow it. He needed to, if Dopey wanted it.

Dopey looked up at him. He stared at Kaito, his eyes unreadable black beads, and Kaito stared back down at him, sadness and comprehension glimmering in his indigo eyes.

Dopey flapped his wings, a _ngrily_ , and pecked Kaito hard on the thumb, nearly hard enough to draw blood. Kaito yelped and backed into a wall.

"Dopey, what the-" The bird cut him off with a quick and very passionate garble of chirps and warbles.

Dopey's intended meaning was clear: _"I. Do. NOT. Want to leave. **This** is my home."_ Visiting Conan and his tag-alongs to get some extra attention was great fun once a week, but every day? On a daily basis he wanted to be with _Kaito,_ his caretaker, his master, and with the other doves, all his family. Not with anyone else. Besides, while Kaito was understanding, caring, and in general very forgiving of Dopey's many mistakes, the bird doubted that the Tantei-kun, or _anyone_ other than Kaito, would or even _could_ deal with the dove's antics on a daily basis for an extended period of time without one of them ending up abandoned or dead.

Kaito smiled at his bird and chucked softly, stroking the dove's head gently, lovingly. "Right, of course. Sorry. Sorry for suggesting it. I just had to ask, to make sure." And Dopey could appreciate his Kaitou's care and concern, but seriously, the whole idea did not sit right with the dove and he hoped never to hear a suggestion like it again.

With a smile still gracing his features, Kaito carried Dopey the rest of the way to the loft, deposited him there, and headed off for school. If he had a _dopey_ smile on his face for the rest of the day, no one said anything.

 **A/ NOTICE: Review with an emoji/text-art in your message for a chance to be mentioned and to possibly have that emoji/art be featured in one of KID's, or even Conan's, messages! (Warning: FanFiction formatting may sometimes negatively affect the way the emojis come out, so some emojis will not be possible.)**

 **I look forward to seeing what you all come up with~!**

 **~(*^▽^*)~**


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